1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the fabrication of trusses, and more particularly to, a method and apparatus for forming a one piece truss.
2. Description of Related Art
Presently, trusses for a roof of a mobile home or garage are constructed of wood. Generally, the fabrication of the truss involves laying out a plurality of wood members or truss components on a support surface and then connecting them together with a "nailer". The nailer is typically a flat plate with a plurality of projections resembling nail extending outwardly perpendicular to the plate.
One method for fabricating the truss has been to lay the truss components in predetermined positions upon a flat or planar support surface. Since these trusses are rather large in size, a person was required to bend over to lay the components on the support surface. The person would then bend over and, using a conventional hammer, hammer the nailer into the truss components at the adjacent ends or "joint"thereof. Alternatively, once the truss components were laid out, a roller connected to a rolling device would press the nailers into the truss components to connect them together. However, the person would generally still be required to bend over to remove the truss after fabrication.
One problem with the above methods is that the operator is required to bend his or her back when laying out the truss components and removing the truss. This has resulted in a large number of back injuries. Another problem with the above methods is that a large amount of time is required for connecting the nailers to the truss components by manual hammering or for the roller to move across the span of the truss to be fabricated. A further problem is that the nailers are not hammered or pressed evenly into the truss components.
An example of an apparatus for fabricating a truss is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,908,885, issued Sept. 30, 1975, to inventor Robert I. Scott. This patent discloses a press for sandwiching a pair of nailers on opposite sides of the truss components at the joint thereof between a moveable and stationary platen of a press. However, the same problem still results; that is, a person is still required to bend over to lay out the truss components and to remove the fabricated truss. Also, one press is used at each joint of the truss components to allow the nailers to be assembled to the truss components. As a result, a large number of presses are required which is very costly. Also, a large amount of time is required to use a press at each joint to fabricate the truss.